Petty Officer Jane Doe
by crimeshowsaremygame
Summary: Too decomposed for standard autopsy. Request anthropological expertise". When NCIS get a case that pushes their resources to the limits, they have to consult Dr Brennan and her team. But will the two teams be able to work together?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a crossover between NCIS and Bones. Setting is in season 3 for both shows, but for mere conveniences, the Gormogon hasn't arrived yet. Other character relations, etc, remain the same. I'm not sure how long this will be, probably not more than 15 chapters, but I don't know how long that will take. Hopefully I'll get a fair bit out quickly ********. My first attempt at an actual case-fic, so please forgive any crapness.**

**Review xx**

"Shit. Gibbs is gonna kill me" were the first six words that came out of Tony Dinozzo's mouth on Monday morning. There were eight missed calls on his cell. On the seventh call, he'd left a message. On the eighth call, there had been a message from Abby, telling him to please answer his phone, because the corner coffee store didn't open over Easter. "Neither does NCIS" he muttered as he crawled off the sofa, picking up his shirt and jacket on the way out. It had been one hell of an Easter weekend.

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Donald Mallard knelt over his work in the centre of a damp, muddy clearing. Gibbs stood behind him, his usual coffee cup absent. Ducky spoke into his small voice recorder- "Too decomposed for standard autopsy- request anthropological expertise". As he turned, he did not like the expression Gibbs wore.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Okay- thank you, doctor". Temperance Brennan snapped her cell phone shut as she strode out of her office at the Jeffersonian. Swiping her ID card, she strode onto the forensic platform, dialing another number as she went. "Uh, Booth? I may have something for you, but I'm fairly certain you're not going to like it".

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Tony and Ziva David arrived at the crime scene together. It was a small, remote place; just out of town- a 20 minute drive from NCIS headquarters. Ziva had made it from her apartment block in 10, Tony took 35, the extra minutes the reason he was now chewing on a bagel.

"Why so late, Zee-vah?" He chided, locking his car as they made their way down the gentle incline that led to the clearing, where Ducky, Gibbs, and a frazzled-looking McGee stood. "I was…out" she supplied unhelpfully. Tony concluded she meant either another of her 'Pilates' classes, or that she had been with someone. He couldn't figure out which option he preferred.

"Dinozzo, David, you two better have damn good reasons for being so late" came Gibbs' welcome. "Well boss, Easter Monday is a nationally recognized holiday and…" Tony trailed off upon seeing his boss' expression. Humor was not going to get him anywhere today. Ziva tried instead. "What do we have, McGee?" This seemed to be the wrong question. "Well, uh, Ziva- Ducky, what exactly _do _we ha…" "What the _hell _is _that?_" McGee was cut off by Tony simultaneously sighting what was left of the body behind their medical examiner, and smelling the rancid scent of putrefaction. "That, Anthony, is what remains of Petty Officer Jane Doe" Ducky stood up, removing his latex gloves as he did so.

"So you know that she was in the navy, but not her _name_?" Ziva had stepped sideways now, sighting the body. "Oh". "Yes, her bracelet was engraved. The portion containing her name, however, appears to have been melted off. Most unusual."

"What do we do now, Duck?" Gibbs was rarely stuck for ideas. "I've contacted an associate of mine, one Doctor Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist…" "From the Jeffersonian Institute". An unfamiliar female voice carried into the clearing, followed by Brennan herself. Unseen by the other NCIS agents, Seeley Booth hovered at the top of the slope leading into the clearing. "Doctor Brennan. I believe you have some remains for me to examine?" She offered her hand to Ducky, then to Gibbs, who took it with some hostility. She knew how to recognize a leader. Ignoring the three other agents, she turned and bent to examine the petty officer.

Tony's eyes bulged slightly.

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**As you can maybe see, I've introduced some possible sideline plots ;D. Also, I'm a bit dissapointed about how small this looks on the page. It was bigger on my word document . Hope you keep reading as I update ********. Review xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry, I know I'm a slow updater. Please forgive me ******

**Hope you like. Xx**

"Female, approximately 25- 30 years old, though probably of slightly smaller stature…" Brennan spoke aloud, though more to herself than others.

"Been here long?" Gibbs' quizzed.

"She's been dead at least a week, but her level of decomposition is not congruent with these surroundings. "

"Meaning?" It was Ziva's turn to probe.

"Meaning she was not killed here, she probably was moved perhaps two, three days after her death? I'll be able to give you further details when I move her back to my lab." At this, Tony ceased the staring that had been occurring for the last five minutes.

"_Your _Lab?" She looked a little puzzled.

"Yes, my lab, at the Jeffersonian." Gibbs opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Booth, who had appeared in the clearing moments earlier, unnoticed.

"Special agent Seeley Booth, FBI" He offered his hand to Gibbs, who glared at it.

"FBI?"

"Yeah- Bones here investigates pretty much anything and everything involving a decomposed body- I tag along whenever the case falls into FBI jurisdiction."

DiNozzo interjected here, he didn't like the expression on Gibbs' face.

"Yeah, except this is a dead Petty Officer, from the _Navy_, and we're from NCIS, the _Naval _Criminal Investigative Service. So really, not FBI jurisdiction at all."

"I was getting to that. There've been a few cases lately, female bodies dumped in the woods, I.D left behind but rendered useless."

"Decomposed like this?" McGee didn't particularly like where this was going.

"Not quite so badly. Anyway, bodies have been found across multiple state lines, meaning...."

"Meaning, it's FBI. I get it. But, we still want this one." Gibbs would not budge.

"I know, which is why I want a joint investigation."

"Who's lead"

"Dr Brennan's, and her team's. Neither of us will get far without cause of death and I.D, which they can provide. At_ their_ lab. I don't want to get into a jurisdictional pissing match here, but I can tell you now, their resources far beat anything you've got over at NCIS." He drew breath to continue, but Gibbs cut him off.

"Fine. Our forensic scientist will want in too, so either keep her directly in the loop, or let her set up at _your _lab." He spoke to Brennan as he finished.

"No problem. I can't get much more from the body without taking it back, so I'd like samples from surface soil and soil from about 5 inches below the surface, from, say, 12- 15 different places within a 10 meter radius. Any rubbish, I want that, and be sure to hang on to every bug on the body. Get as many photos as you can of the body and the clearing." She stood up and removed her gloves.

"I'll see you back at the lab?" She spoke to Booth, who nodded. She grabbed her bag and set off without a further word. A minute later, the sound of a car engine could be heard accelerating into the distance.

"Who found the body?" asked Booth.

"Couple of kids, looking for a private place. Local LEOs interviewed them and sent them home, they didn't have much to say." Gibbs was cut off by DiNozzo.

"Speaking of which, where are the locals?"

"They wanted out as soon as they saw the body."

"Ah."

A few seconds of awkward silence passed. Gibbs spoke.

"Ducky, can you and Palmer take care of the body and whatever maggots are there, then follow agent Booth to the Jeffersonian." He looked to Booth for confirmation, who nodded.

"Ziva, McGee, bag and tag the dirt, record specific locations relative to the body and to something else. Dinozzo, photos, get as close to the body as you can." Tony groaned slightly.

Gibbs snapped off his gloves and retreated to the edge of the clearing.

"Where you goin', boss?" Dinozzo looked up from his camera.

"To get the other case files, and to the Jeffersonian. Bring all the evidence there."

The clearing was thrown into awkward silence again as he left. Tony snapped another picture, edging closer to the body.

**Sorry I was so slow updating! Hopefully I'll be able to update quicker next time.**

**Review Xx**


	3. not an update please read

_**Not an update:**_

**Sorry I haven't updated in god knows how long- I've had a student on exchange and have literally been out for all hours the last couple of weeks. She leaves this weekend so expect a new chapter the weekend after! So sorry, hopefully you can forgive me and not remember me as the notoriously slow updater.**

**Xx**


	4. Chapter 3

**I know, I know- there's a fine line between a suspenseful pause and downright laziness. But, like Johnny Cash, I walk the line.**

Gibbs rarely felt or looked uncomfortable in his surroundings, but as he stepped into the Medico- Legal lab at the Jeffersonian, he felt exactly that. College kids half his age walked and talked

like they owned the place, completely at ease carrying a human skull or a jar of maggots, not unlike he held a coffee cup. His discomfort was further escalated by the fact that no one

seemed to be inclined to help him. A wide-eyed Abby had followed him through the door, looking like a kid in a candy store. She was raving about their electron- scanning something or

other, which he honestly didn't care about unless it could simultaneously solve a murder and dispense coffee. He was considering just walking into the nearest office and setting up there,

when Booth rounded the corner, scientist of some sort in tow. "Agent Gibbs, glad to see you got here ok-" he was cut off by Hodgins, who was behind him. "Oh, so this is the agent. NCIS.

Hm." His brow furrowed, he turned on his heel and walked in the direction he came from, with the intent of Googling everything he could on the agent, and possibly enlisting the help of Zack

in using a more unorthodox method of research. "I presume this is your forensic scientist?" Booth indicated Abby. Gibbs nodded. Booth called over his shoulder. "Angela!" The artist stepped

off the forensic platform behind them. "Fill her in and give her something to do, will you?" Angela nodded and the two walked off together, making introductions and already going off on

totally unrelated social tangents. Abby would be fine. "Gibbs, there's a spare office for you and your team to set up in; someone can show them in when they arrive." Gibbs agreed and

the two agents climbed a set of stairs into the vacant space.

Back at the crime scene, things were not going well. Palmer and Ducky had gotten the body onto a gurney and into the truck, though in the process Palmer had been banished to

collecting soil samples after he'd managed to pull off one of the Jane Doe's hands. McGee had been lobbed with the task of collecting every bug on, in and around the body and Tony and

Ziva were bagging, tagging and shooting. Not one person wanted to be there- in the heat of the day the smell of decomp had filled the entire clearing, and a cornucopia of insect activity

was, put simply, annoying the hell out of everyone. "What it is with serial killers and public holidays?" Tony was still making jokes. A scathing reply in Hebrew from Ziva cast the clearing

back into silence. It was a relief when half an hour later they got into their cars and drove to the Jeffersonian.


	5. Chapter 4

**Okay people, if you can all forgive me and actually be bothered to read, here's a new chapter. I've been having problems with my internet, but it's all good now.**

**It's introductions time! This chapter is longer, and next chapter we start with the meaty case stuff. I've got exams these two weeks, but after that things will be pretty laid back study wise, and then holidays, so I'll be able to update more often ;D**

**Review, let me know if you have any ideas for sideline plots.**

**Xx**

It was late afternoon by the time all the evidence had been packaged up and loaded into the cars. Palmer and Ducky had driven to the Jeffersonian in the NCIS truck before McGee, Tony and Ziva were even half finished, SAT-NAV thoughtfully programmed by Booth. The three agents carted the evidence up and out of the clearing, breathing in the supply of fresh air willingly. None of them spoke, all fed up and detesting Booth and Dr Brennan before official introductions had been made. The only conversation was had when decisions were being made as to whose car would cart the evidence. Since they wanted the glass jars to remain intact, they opted to put it in the car being driven by Tony.

Back at the Jeffersonian, preliminary investigations into the body were being made. Ducky and Palmer had dropped off the body, received a slight ear bashing for pulling off the hand, before returning to NCIS. Abby had been introduced to Dr Brennan's team in its entirety, and was working most closely with Hodgins and Angela, considering she didn't normally have much to do with the human body. Gibbs and Booth were able to work relatively well together, surprisingly enough, and were poring over the case files from the other unsolved murders, both agreeing that things were beginning to look more and more like a serial, possibly more than they cared for. Serial killers meant a lot of strain, hard work and juggling other cases at the same time. They couldn't look for anything specific, since without cause of death or identification of any of the 5 victims any sort of m.o was difficult to keep track of, though the dumping of the bodies in a secluded clearing was consistent with many of the creeps they'd encountered before.

Ziva walked into the Jeffersonian, 15 minutes ahead to Tony and McGee. She was about to call Gibbs and ask him where he was when her phone buzzed and his caller ID popped up. A quick conversation directed her to the office where they sat, and within minutes she, too was examining the old case files. Tony and McGee rocked up shortly after, and Gibbs, Booth and Ziva met them at the foot of the forensic platform, a delighted-looking Hodgins awaiting evidence. The remainder of Dr Brennan's team stepped down from the platform, followed by Dr Brennan herself.

"Dr Hodgins will need all the physical evidence you collected, and I'd like to take a look at the photos you took after Angela has looked at them." She spoke directly to Gibbs, who looked over at Tony and McGee, both weighed down by boxes of evidence. Tony decided to introduce himself, since it looked like Gibbs had no intention of introducing his team members.

"Tony DiNozzo, and a variety of maggots- at your service" The air conditioned car ride had returned him to his coy persona.

"Timothy McGee" Said McGee with a nod- normally he would have shaken hands but he was tied up with a box full of twigs, and a camera case.

Gibbs had been introduced to the Jeffersonian scientists by Booth, which left Ziva, who shook everyone's hand. Hodgins was cordial enough to Ziva and shook her hand, evidently not aware of the fact that she was Mossad. Booth, who had learned this fact moments earlier, smirked inwardly at the thought of Hodgins' reaction when he found that out. "You can bring all the physical evidence to my station," Hodgins beckoned for McGee and Tony to follow him around the corner, "looks heavy" he added, with no intention of offering help. He loved pushing the limits with agents of the government. "Oh, no need to offer help, we're fine" muttered a disgruntled Tony, audibly enough for him to hear. Hodgins smirked. The evidence was placed (or rather, banged) at his work station, and Tony strode off. McGee lingered a little longer. "Can I help you, agent McGee?" He turned and left quickly. Hodgins chuckled to himself. Oh yeah, this was going to be a fun case.

Tony returned to the foot of the forensic platform to find Gibbs and Booth in discussion about what to do between now and when they got a cause of death and ID.

"DiNozzo can stay here and interpret all the evidence from an investigative point of view." Booth chuckled.

"Will you be okay here with the squint squad?"

"The who?"

"The squints. You know- Dr Brennan's team?"

"Oh yeah. Not Dr Brennan?"

"No- she'll come out in the field with me."

"Oh…"

"Disappointed, Tony?"

Ziva returned in time to catch the end of their conversation- she'd been with Angela, downloading the crime scene pictures. Tony made no reply. At this point, McGee returned from Hodgins' station, and all the scientists, Abby included, were up on the forensic platform. Tony realized why Booth had called them squints- every one of them was peering a something. He chuckled to himself at this realization.

"DiNozzo, get your ass up there and start getting some theories together" Gibbs had become annoyed at the lack of activity. "Ziva, McGee, back to the office, start tracking down the investigators from the other cases. Abby!" Abby looked up from her microscope.

"Gibbs?"

"Work with Angela, get on making faces for the other victims, see if you can't get an ID."

"Going now."

Abby and Angela left the forensic platform and made their way to Angela's office. As they went, Abby asked, "Hey, got any caf-pow machines here?"

"What's caf-pow?"

Gibbs laughed. Angela was going to have an interesting time.

Ziva, McGee, Gibbs and Booth left to the semi- empty office to keep going over the case files. Tony was still on the platform and feeling a little overwhelmed. Cam took pity on him.

"Dr Saroyan- Cam, to most people. You haven't been properly introduced to myself or Zack. Wave, Zack,"

Cam looked over at Zack, who waved his right hand. The right hand holding the detatched hand of the Jane Doe.

"Shouldn't he be in highschool or something?" Tony muttered to Cam.

"Hm. Probably. Totally inept socially. Brilliant mind."

"I can hear you, you know?" Zack, although a distance from their conversation, looked up, eyebrows raised.

"Keep going with the bone, kid." Cam chuckled at Tony and Zack's exchange.

"You'd get along just fine with Booth."

"If I can possibly tear you away from your fascinating social inquiries, we may have ID from the other victims." Angela and Abby were at the bottom of the stairs.

"That was quick" noted Hodgins.

"Quick IDs aren't usually good. I'll get Gibbs." Tony got up and strode down the stairs, a worried look on his face.

**Look at that! Nice and long, actually getting into something! I know where I'm taking it now, so I'll update a bit quicker, probably next weekend. **

**Review!**

**XX**


	6. Chapter 5

**Look! I updated! Within a reasonable time constraint! *gasps***

**Also, so not looking forward to Aliyah. **

**Review XX**

Abby and Angela were both in front of Angela's large computer screen, where the face of a young brunette woman stared back at them.  
"Victim 3 of the 5 cold cases. Her body was found dumped in a clearing by campers. Her body was the least decomposed, there was no skull damage- pretty easy to do a facial reconstruction. We ran her through the missing persons data base, got nothing. _But_ Angela has this program to run the picture against, like, every random picture on the internet alphabetically by URL, and we got a match really quickly. Which is weird, I'm told…"  
"Bottom line, Abby?"  
"Sorry. Uh- her name is Tessa Nelson, she's an elite gymnast at an exclusive club, it's just called Aaron's. Which is probably why we got a match- - double A."  
"Address?"  
"Just sent it to all your phones. It's not far from here."  
"Agent Gibbs, I'd like to check that out." Booth had caught the end of the conversation.  
"Go- take DiNozzo. Abby, can you print that picture out?"  
She nodded. Angela pressed a few buttons and three copies of the young brunette spat out of the printer.  
"McGee, background on Nelson- find out why no one reported her missing."  
"On it, boss" McGee began tapping at his computer, dozens of windows opening at once.

______________________

"Zack, we're done with the external examination, you can clean the bones. Make sure Cam has as many soft tissue samples as she wants. Have them ready to be looked at tomorrow morning."  
"Yes, Dr Brennan" Brennan snapped off her rubber gloves and stepped off the platform, untying her hair as she went.  
"Agent Gibbs, I have some new information that might be useful."  
Gibbs didn't reply, so she kept going.  
"Hodgins did the analysis of the insect activity on and around the body. He found a certain species only common…" Gibbs raised an eyebrow and gave a look that was enough to deter her from her scientific ramble- possibly something that had never been done before.  
"Dr Hodgins concluded that the body was left in a very shallow grave in a damp area with a high level of humidity for up to two weeks. The body was then moved, transported in a cotton fabric of some sort and left in the clearing where it continued to decompose for three days, until it was discovered and brought here." Gibbs was silent for a minute, nut nevertheless impressed.  
"Good. Cause of death?"  
"No. The bones are being cleaned, we should be ready to start identifying a cause of death by tomorrow, unless the soft tissue can tell us anything, but you'll have to talk to Dr Saroyan about that, I don't work with flesh…" She trailed off- Gibbs was already walking away, to find Hodgins and tell him to find the exact wetland.

______________________________

"I'm sorry Agent Gibbs; I can't give you a more precise location! As much as I hate to say it, there's only so much bugs and slime can tell us at this point! The best I can give you is that it was within a 10 to 15 mile radius of the DC area."  
"Can't you search every location, then?"  
"Do you have _any _idea how long that would take? Even disregarding the dried up wetlands, you're still looking at weeks worth of field work- we aren't just looking for the major sites, it's any insignificant swamp area there is in DC! Hell, someone's back yard pond could do it!"  
Gibbs glared. Hodgins glared back. Both men recognized defeat, and walked away.

From the forensic platform, Cam observed the mild argument between Gibbs and Hodgins.  
"Looks like Hodgins has finally met his match." She mused.  
"His match for what?" Zack didn't even look up from portion of the body which he was loading onto a silver tray. Cam rolled her eyes.  
"Blood type match." She quipped.  
"I was under the impression Dr Hodgins was type O, which is relatively common. If he needs blood, I'm sure any one of us could give it to him." He was still engrossed in his bone transferring. Cam stood up straight- she had been leaning against the railing. She simply patted Zack on the shoulder as she stepped past him and down the stairs.

As she went, Zack's brows knitted.  
"How would she know Agent Gibbs' blood type?" Cam caught this, and chuckled to herself.

___________________________

Booth's SUV hummed quietly down the road, barely pushing she speed limit. Tony enjoyed the ride, not having to feel as if he was on death's door, as he did when his partner drove. He made this comment to Booth, who laughed. A few more minutes were spent in silence before Booth asked Tony if his boss had military experience.  
"He was a marine sniper. Why?"  
"No reason. Just wondered, I've heard it's not uncommon for ex servicemen to become part of NCIS."  
Tony made a 'hm' of acknowledgement, not feeling Booth was being entirely open, but not being so interested as to press the matter. Silence fell again until they passed a Ferrari, parked on the sidewalk. Their interest only mounted when they realized it was parked outside the very building they were looking for- Aaron's gym. This time, they both made a 'hm'.

____________________

**I hope you all liked my Zack moment- I'll try and put a few in- I miss him :(\**

**reviews are love people.**


	7. Chapter 6

**New chapter, yay! I know where I'm going with this now and I have the next few days off, so I might get another chapter out then.**

**Review, or I'll use my break to watch dvd's and not update.**

**Xx**

Booth and DiNozzo strode into the waiting room of Aaron's gymnasium. It looked less like a sports facility and more like a shrine- the same man, presumably Aaron, posing with Olympic gymnasts, with his family, with celebrities, with businessmen, with politicians- if they were famous and wealthy they were on the wall, usually depicted handing over an oversized novelty cheque. They approached the receptionist, and both agents flashed their badges. Booth spoke first.

"Special agents Booth, FBI, and DiNozzo, NCIS. We need to speak to the owner."

Already the woman was tapping away on her keyboard.

"Hm. Naval Criminal Investigative service. Never heard of it. FBI though, that I have heard of. Could I see those badges again, please?"

Booth and Tony exchanged a glance, and both reached over the counter to show her the badges, without letting them go.

"That seems to be in order. I'm sorry, we're very tight on security here, such a prestigious club and all…"

Her false sincerity was beginning to get on their nerves.

"The owner, ma'am?"

"Oh, yes." She pressed a small button on her keyboard and spoke into her headset.

"Mr. Lambardi, two federal agents are here to speak with you." DiNozzo, who was closer to the desk, vaguely heard a reply from the earpiece. She replied with a simple 'no', and seconds later two sliding doors behind the desk opened. Through them stepped a small, beefy looking man.

"Aaron Lambardi Jr, I'm sorry, Helene should have let you straight through. You will receive our full cooperation from now on. What can Aaron's do for two federal agents?"

"Is there somewhere more private we could speak, please?" Booth eyed the waiting room full of mothers and turned his attention back to Lambardi, eyebrows raised.

"Of course, come through."

They followed him back through the glass doors, where they were faced with a small, circular room with another receptionist, who merely nodded at them. They crossed the room to the foot of a set of stairs, which they climbed, and came out onto an empty viewing platform. Below them was an enormous gymnastics set up. Countless bars and beams of various sizes were at one end, near numerous sets of rings. Two huge squares of blue carpet took up most of the space, along with six trampolines, a large foam pit with yet more equipment balanced over it, and crash mats of assorted sizes were all occupied by gymnasts. Booth turned to Lambardi and pulled out the photo of Tessa Nelson.

"Mr Lambardi, do you recognize this woman?"

"Of course, that's Tess, she's one of my stars. Why? Has something happened?"

"Has she been at training lately, sir?"

"No, we received a call to say she was sick, that she wouldn't be in for a few weeks. Of course, we were disappointed, she will miss the upcoming competition, but we were told she needed rest." Tony spoke next.

"We're sorry to have to tell you this, Mr Lambardi, but Tessa is dead. We're investigating her death as one in a series of possible homicides."

"Homicide? She was _murdered?_ That's, that's- wow. How did she die?" They avoided this.

"Mr Lambardi, if you need a minute…"

"No, I'm fine. Wha- what do you need?"

"Do you have contact details? We need to speak with her parents." At this, Lambardi became grim.

"Tessa didn't have parents. We assumed they were dead, she never spoke of it. She had a guardian, her cousin. I can get you the details. My office…" He gestured behind him.

"If I give you an email address, can you send it through that way?" DiNozzo asked. He nodded, and Tony wrote down McGee's email address. Before he walked away, Booth placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We need to speak to the other girls. Not question them, just talk. Is it possible for that to happen now?" At this, Lambardi stiffened.

"The girls have a competition, it could be very distracting…"

"With all due respect, Mr Lambardi, if this is a serial homicide, any of your girls could be next. We really need to speak to them today." Booth struggled to keep the irritation out of his voice. Lambardi spoke quietly into his headset, and minutes later another receptionist came out of yet another door.

"Follow Marie." He said grimly.

Booth and DiNozzo followed behind her. DiNozzo muttered to Booth "How many does he have?" Booth smiled.

Booth and Tony leant against a beam, a small circle of gymnasts in tracksuits and leotards stood with them, those who had been closest to Tessa.

"Can you tell us about Tessa? What was she like?" A blonde gymnast with her long hair braided and wound over the back of her head began to speak.

"She was just-I don't know- _nice._ Quiet. Smart. Religious."

"She was one of the best in the club, but she was so blissfully unaware of it. That's why everyone liked her so much- it can be such a bitchy sport." A raven- haired girl spoke this time, her English slightly accented- she was French.

"She was even popular in the trampolining side of the club, equally so with the tumblers, even though she didn't have much to do with us. Everyone loved Tessa. I just can't believe she's gone- she was only 16, she had such a career ahead of her." This girl was Australian, her spiky black hair not moving as she spoke animatedly. She was built differently to her friends- shorter, more muscled. It was obvious she was from a different discipline.

"Did she change at all, recently? Was her behavior any different?" This time, a British voice spoke- a dark skinned girl had walked over from the change rooms.

"She was the same as ever until about two months ago. She joined a new church, I think. I don't think she was all that happy there."

"Rebecca!" Another gymnast hissed. Booth raised his brows. The girl spoke, a Russian accent evident.

"She did not like speaking about her new church. We all thought she should leave, but she would not talk about it. We try to keep our personal lives out of the gym, it can complicate things, but it was beginning to affect her performance. She seemed like she wanted to speak about it when I asked her last, and we arranged to meet at a café after training the next day. That was when she stopped coming." Booth and DiNozzo exchanged meaningful glances.

"Do you know where this church was?" They all shook their heads. Booth decided they had enough information for now.

"Thanks a lot, girls. We're sorry for your loss. Mr Lambardi has our card, if you think of anything else, don't hesitate to call." The gymnasts dispersed to their respective areas of the gym as they turned to leave.

Back at the Lab, the rest of the victims had been identified. Things were not looking good.

**Ooh, the plot thickens! Sorry this chapter is so heavy on dialogue. Also, I just had to put in a gym description- I'm a gymnast myself, and that is like the gym of my dreams. Don't worry, it's not going to take centre stage in the fic though, so gymnastics haters need not worry! **

**Please let me know if I'm being too clumsy with the introduction of the plot- reviews are good for this!**

**Xx**


	8. Chapter 7

**I'm on a roll, people. Also, I'm having trouble with finding a good format for my fics. I like what I have on word, and then when I upload it, it seems to come out a bit different. I think every chapter has had different formatting, so I'd appreciate some thoughts on which everyone prefers. **

**Also, I remembered I haven't put a disclaimer. Is that actually necessary? Has anyone **_**actually**_** claimed ownership over a show? Anyhoo, if I owned these shows, this crossover would have happened a very long time ago.**

**Enough of my ramblings, to the story.**

**Xx**

Booth and Tony arrived back at the lab to see that 6 sets of remains now occupied the forensic platform, each with a photograph and page or so of background on them. At first, they thought it was a different case.

"DiNozzo, get your ass up here!" Tony had turned to walk into the office when he heard the dulcet tones of his boss from, bizarrely, the forensic platform.

"Looks like we have some serious collaborating to do with the squints." Booth was already making his way up to the rest of the two teams.

Every member of both teams was stationed on the platform. Zack, Hodgins, Angela, Cam and Brennan were closest to the remains, poised to give a long and complicated scientific explanation for every nick on every bone. Abby was with them. Ziva had been leaning against the railing next to the plasma screen, at which McGee was stationed. Tony joined her, as far away from the bones as was possible. Booth and Gibbs were together on the opposite side, closer to the bodies, each with files in their hands. Brennan spoke first.

"Five cold cases, one newly discovered set of remains. All sets of remains have been cleaned, except the fourth cold case. Victim one, Evangeline Flight, discovered in a clearing exactly the same as the one in which the Petty Officer was found. Dressed as if ready for horsemanship of some sort. No anthropologists were available, the only observations made by the local ME that were of any use was that she seemed too decomposed to have been killed in the clearing. Bones have been cleaned."

It went on like this for a good 15 minutes, until everyone knew the basic scientific facts. All six had been discovered in a dry clearing, but seemingly moved from a much damper area. Evangeline Flight, dressed for horse riding; Holly Waters, dressed for scuba diving; Tessa Nelson, dressed for a gymnastics competition; Isabelle Plowman, ready to go ballroom dancing; Danielle Combes, dressed for a soccer match; and the Petty Officer, Janelle Stephens, in her dress whites. Every single one of them had been found with their ID, but rendered useless. Nametags melted, passports shredded. The only reason they had all been identified was because of Angela's program.

"It's odd that we got ID's so quickly using my program. Usually that can take months, you can imagine all the URL addresses out there. The weird thing is, none of these searches took long. Every one of their photos was found on the website belonging to an organization beginning with A. The exception is the last victim, who we found by sending her picture to the Navy. Apparently, she's been ill for the last couple of months." Ziva picked up where she left off.

"Every one of these women belong to a prestigious organization of sorts. We have spoken to the owners over the phone. They have all been reported as being ill for the last month and a half. None of them have family. The only emergency contact they have is a cousin." McGee stood up from his computer.

"It's like the killer is picking victims from the phone directory. They are all physically different. They all belong to very diverse organizations. Their only commonalties are that they are all described as nice, quiet, smart, charitable, religious, and are all involved in charities of some sort." He caught a look from Gibbs and continued hastily. "I checked out all the charities, all very different, no common link, all well recognized."

"Religious- didn't one of the girls at the gym say Tessa Nelson had changed churches recently? That she wasn't happy and wanted to leave?" Tony looked across at Booth, who nodded.

"We need to find out if that was the case with any of the other women. Agent Gibbs, can we arrange that?" He nodded.

"Ziva, DiNozzo, take the first two victims. Booth, do you want to take Brennan and look at victims three and four? McGee, with me." There was something of a bustle, until McGee's laptop beeped at him from his knee. He tapped away for a few seconds and stood up hastily.

"Uh, boss? You should probably all hear this." Upon receiving a nod and everyone's attention, he went on. "None of these people existed until eighteen months ago. There is absolutely no record of them traveling, making credit card purchases, no activity within their respective clubs…" There was silence for a second. Then motion all at once. Within a minute, only Cam, Zack, Hodgins and Angela remained. Cam turned to face them all.

"Well, lets see if we can't get cause of death."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An hour later, none of the agents, or Brennan, had returned. There was no progress on cause of death. People were getting frustrated.

"No gunshot wounds, no stab wounds, no sharp force trauma of any sort. No blunt force trauma, hell, there aren't even any broken bones, except the hand that the ME's assistant managed to pull off. This actually looks like natural causes here. But how many murderers just wait for their victims to die of their own accord?" Whilst Cam looked ready to hit something, Zack merely looked puzzled.

"These bones are pristine. There is nothing to suggest poor health, except the fact that the victim is dead."

"The answer is obviously in the soft tissue, of which we have very little of, from one victim."

"Well then, do your pathologist thingo." Cam smiled and made her way over to victim four- the ballroom dancer. There was enough soft tissue left that she could do a thorough examination. Things appeared routine until she got to the forearm of the victim.

"Dr Hodgins, what does this look like to you?" He bent over the remains and poked at the tissue with a gloved finger.

"Mass spectrometer can sure as hell tell us." He took a sample and just about ran off the platform and down to his station. Abby took a look and followed him. It wasn't much, just a slight anomaly in terms of consistency- the clear, viscous liquid provided a little contrast to the appearance of the soft tissue. If Cam hadn't been looking so hard for the tiniest of thing, she would have missed it. The mass spectrometry came back relatively quickly, and Abby and Hodgins made their way back up the stairs, talking rapidly.

"We have cause of death" Hodgins was bursting to yell out 'king of the lab' but thought he'd save it for a minute.

"Tetrodotoxication." The one word said it all for Cam.

"From what source?"

"That's where things get really good. There are also traces of penta-hydroxytryptamine, hyaluronidase, tyramine, histamine, tryptamine, octopamine, taurine, acetylcholine, and dopamine."

"You've lost me. What the hell is that?" Hodgins looked like a cat that had swallowed the cream.

"Blue ringed octopus venom." He said smugly. Then, "King of the lab!"

"Of course! We need to call Booth."

"And Gibbs!"

"And Gibbs. Angela?"

"On it."

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**Chapters getting longer, plot is thickening…who likes?**

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	9. Chapter 8

**It has been way too long, I know. I think this is what they call writers block. BUT, because I love you all so much, I came home today and promised I'd write two chapters. TWO! Call an ambulance. So, many cups of coffee later, here is what I have. I blame you all for my twitchiness, the result of way too much macchiato.**

**Review! (I need the sustenance!)**

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"Have you ever considered putting Parker into gymnastics, Booth?" On the way to re-interview members and staff at Aaron's gym, Booth lost momentary control of the SUV, managing to narrowly avoid mounting the pavement.

"Gymnastics, Bones? As in twirl a ribbon, throw a hoop, fly a kite _gymnastics?"_

"I'm not certain there are any kites involved in gymnastics, Booth. And what you mention refers only to rhythmic gymnastics. Artistic gymnastics requires far more speed and power, the apparatus used…" began a slightly perplexed Brennan.

"Get the picture, Bones. Jump up and down, swing on some bars. Why would I make Parker do that?"

"I'm just saying Booth, it's an excellent form of exercise for both males and females, and the building of muscle mass could prevent Parker developing all sorts of health complications later in life."

"You know what, Bones? Football suits just fine." Shaking his head, Booth hit the accelerator.

Tony and Ziva stood in the unattended waiting room at Adreno Scuba Diving centre, where they were waiting for Holly Water's instructor to finish a class. Ziva was bored, and decided to do some poking.

"Dr Brennan is an attractive woman, yes?"

"She's, uh, well she's…" A somewhat taken aback Tony struggled to form a coherent response. Ziva ploughed on.

"Will you sleep with her?" By this time, Tony had recovered his usual cool DiNozzo exterior.

"I wouldn't say no to the offer. Will you?"

"Hm. Only in your dreams, DiNozzo." At that point, the person they had been waiting for emerged from a room to their right, and any thoughts Tony might have been entertaining were interrupted.

"Tetrodo-what?" On the way back from Aarons Gym where they'd had no luck in finding information about Tessa Nelson's church, Booth was getting more than a little frustrated at all the squint speak that was coming from his partner in the passenger seat, who was on the phone to Angela, relaying messages back and forth.

"Tetrodotoxication, Booth- uh, sorry Angela, what was that?"

"Just put her on speaker, Bones."

"Right, sorry. Angela, you're on speaker."

"I know, sweetie. Now, we found a substance in the flesh of the forearm of victim four."

"The scuba diver?"

"No, Booth, that was number two. Victim four was the ballroom dancer."

"Oh. So what was the sticky stuff?"

"Blue ringed octopus venom. And judging by the lack of damage to the skeletal structures of the other victims, I'd say that's what killed them." Brennan was nodding in agreement,

"You haven't been able to confirm that same cause of death from the other victims?"

"No, toxicology reports weren't done, case went cold before ME's could even look at the bodies properly. They just got buried under all the red tape. All the bones have been cleaned, but we still have samples of tissue from the Petty Officer, Cam's seeing what she can get from that."

"Thanks, Angela. Make sure Gibbs and his team get that info." Booth didn't want to step over the older agent's head.

"They're next on my list. Talk to you later." She hung up.

"Bones, what exactly would blue ringed octopus venom do to a person?"

"I'll admit, Booth, I'm not an expert. I've never heard of it being used as a murder weapon before, most people are bitten when scuba diving, if they try to pick up the octopus- it's indigenous to Australia, I've never encountered a case myself, but I did have an associate once…"

"Bones, can we possibly get to the point this side of tomorrow?"

"Right, sorry. Firstly the victim might feel symptoms of nausea, experience what I believe is colloquially dubbed as 'hazy vision', then soon after blindness. The senses are weakened and speech is impaired. Within minutes, the victim would surely be paralyzed and unable to breathe. It would be a very painful, terrifying death. Victims are unaware of what the creature really is until it has bitten them- the last thing they will see is the characteristic blue rings, which are only visible when it is about to attack." At this, there was a heavy tone to Brennan's voice.

"How the hell is someone using them to murder people?"

"I don't know, Booth, but they'd have a hard time getting one here. I can't imagine it would pass through customs unnoticed, but for sure they'd only need one- one adult Hapalochlaena maculosacontains enough venom to kill 26 adult humans. I'd say that the victims are simple being placed in close proximity to the creature- it's virtually impossible to extract their venom, but I imagine some sort of struggle would be involved, and there was no evidence on the bones to suggest that…" She trailed off, a slight furrow on her brow. It'd been a while since they'd had a case that had truly stumped them all.

Back at the lab, Angela had left Abby the task of phoning Gibbs with the cause of death- she was more than a little intimidated by the agent.

"Gibbs, it's Abby!"

"What do you have, Abs?"

"Caffeine deficiency. Did you know this place has no Caf- Pow machine?"

"The case, Abby."

"Right. We have cause of death for victim four, Isabelle Plowman, the…"

"The ballroom dancer, I know."

"Very good Gibbs, you've done your homework. Anyway, cause of death is Tetrodotoxication. From a blue ringed octopus, which is weird, because they're native to Australia and there's none missing from any marine wildlife centers, before you ask, I already checked. The others are still trying to figure out how someone would have gone about murdering a bunch of people like this, but be on the lookout for someone with a blue ringed octopus under their arm."

"Cause of death for the other victims?"

"Looks like the same think. Want details?"

"No." Gibbs hung up and accelerated. McGee struggled to keep his laptop upright.

"What can you tell me about the organizations the victims belonged to, McGee?"

"Not much, Boss. Apart from are very own Navy, they're all relatively small, though very well known because of their exclusiveness. There's nothing shady about any of them, no court cases, no complaints, nothing. Then again, these people have enough money that they can make things just go away. I'm working on finding links between them, but right now Angela's pick-them-from-the-phone-directory theory is about the best we have."

"Find me something, McGee." He turned into Danielle Combe's soccer club.

**Review, pleeaseeeee! The next chapter will be up by tomorrow night (where I am, at least.) **

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